One of the three teams that were potentially planning to relocate to Los Angeles will remain in its city for the foreseeable future. The San Diego Chargers announced on Tuesday evening that they have not opted out of their lease at Qualcomm Stadium and will be remaining in San Diego.
On February 1st of every year since 2007, the Chargers have been eligible to terminate the team’s lease for Qualcomm Stadium. And each year since 2007, the Chargers have announced that the team will not exercise the termination clause and instead continue to work toward a permanent stadium solution in San Diego.
Today, the Chargers are making the same announcement that the team has made each year since 2007: The team will not be exercising the lease termination clause and will keep working to find a publicly acceptable way to build a Super-Bowl quality stadium in San Diego. Calendar year 2015 will constitute the team’s fourteenth year of work on a San Diego stadium solution.
As the Chargers attempt to get something figured out with the city of San Diego, the focus on NFL relocation now turns to two teams, the St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders, who also have a history in Southern California.
Both have been rumored to be interested in a move to the world’s second-largest media market. And both teams have the ability to pack up and leave their current cities after this season.
Oakland’s lease with O.co runs out after this season, as does the Rams lease with Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
All indications up to this point are that at least one team will uproot to Southern California in time for the 2015 season. But the Chargers announcement on Tuesday evening takes one of the legitimate options off the table.
Photo: Huffington Post